Summer Road Trip Week 1

We mapped out our summer road trip and set off early in our trusty white van (AKA "Snowball").  Our first stop was Greenville, SC.  Dear friends moved last year and we were grateful to visit their new home and catch up in person.  

 After two nights in Greenville, we had another long day of driving to Stop #2: New Orleans.  Being a Saints football fan, Ryan has always wanted to visit New Orleans.  We timed it to arrive on father's day and celebrated our favorite dad with some delicious BBQ

Our full day in New Orleans started at the Superdome where the Saints play.  Ryan picked out his own Father's Day presents in the gift shop =)

The rest of the day was spent basically eating our way through the city!

Cafe Du Monde

The "original" Muffuletta sandwich

After a lot of walking around and a visit to the aquarium while a storm passed through, we thoroughly enjoyed a cajun dinner: alligator nachos, fried shrimp, étouffée, blackened fish, etc . . . =)

From New Orleans, we headed west to visit the Payne homestead.  Kevin and Deborah met us there, along with Kevin's cousin, who provided detailed history about Grandaddy IB, his nine siblings, and the generations of Payne history.

The family history lesson continued . . .

Later in the day, we made our way to Ryan's grandmother's house where she's lived for over fifty years.  We enjoyed time with her, looking at old photos, hearing wonderful stories, and eating at a few of her favorite local spots.  We also introduced her to one of our favorite places to eat: Smoothie King - it was her first smoothie! =)

Kevin and Ryan walked the kids to the neighborhood corner store where Kevin frequented growing up.  The Maggio family has owned the store for years and still recognizes when a Payne walks in!

We love you, Grandmother!

Four generations of Paynes

June

 

Gretchen is honing her babysitting skills as a mother's helper for two families this summer.  She excels at holding cute babies and drawing kids in when she reads out loud to them

We have several house projects to work on this summer and the girls' room was the first update.  Goodbye bunk beds; hello fresh coat of white paint and twin beds with visions of matching comforters and a navy/pink color scheme.

Bridgette and Gretchen looking lovely as they anticipate their performances at my piano recital.  Rooke didn't take part this year due to his broken hand.  

Because of the uncertainty in plans due to the pandemic, the recital was scheduled later than normal and my students ended up using their music for their performances.  But the event was still special and a wonderful celebration of hard work for all of us, especially when we had to do piano lessons on Zoom.  Ugh!

One of my talented little pianists!

Having Mom as their piano teacher probably isn't their favorite, but having friends also take lessons from Mom makes up for a bit (I think!)

I had a significant follow-up appointment with my plastic surgeon, who confirmed I will not need any more "touch-ups" or "reconstructions" as long as I don't have any more melanoma show up on my face!  Dr. Howard was at Walter Reed for my first surgery, which is how I ended up as his patient.  Thankfully, I was able to continue my care with him as he transitioned to the private sector, and I am extremely grateful for the expert care he has shown me over the last 18 months of navigating the necessary changes on my face.  Leaving his office this day was unexpectedly but not surprisingly emotional.

I cashed in on one of my mother's day dates: Gretchen and I went out for special summer drinks and pedicures!  

May

 

We spent an evening on the National Mall with dessert and a frisbee.  We still really like living next door to DC!

This bird sat perched on our porch for an unusual amount of time, daring us to get closer with our camera until it eventually flew away.  

Hamster Funeral Part Two.  RIP Chipper.

When you show up at church wearing the black version of your friend's white outfit =)

Happy Mother's Day!  Nothing says "we love you" like morning cuddles 

I'm grateful to be their mom

The kids made vegetable and fruit rice paper wraps for our lunch

Later in the week, I cashed in on one of my mother's day dates.  Bridgette and I went out for dinner at Cava and then hunted down as many geocaches as we could find until the sun went down!

Meanwhile, Gretchen had a special night in DC with her Bible study group 

As we neared the end of school, we went on a couple field trips with families from our co-op.  We always enjoy the Bible Museum and learned more than we had about the Gutenberg Press on this visit.

We asp enjoyed an evening at Medieval Times, cheering on the yellow knight in the jousting

We visited Colonel Denning State Park for two nights of camping and enjoyed a beautiful hike that started at the campground.  

Rooke did a great job on his presentation of his science research project for the families at our co-op's celebration night

We made it to the end of school!!

The smiling faces of a seventh grader, fifth grader, third grader and second grade tutor who just finished another year of school.

Picking fresh strawberries is one of my favorite signals of summer

Sweet friends practicing their duet

Our first week of no school included a lot of medical appointments I'd been putting off!

One last photo of these bunk beds that have served our family well, far longer than they should have through more moves than we thought they'd last.  

The beginnings of my hopeful garden bed.  Another bed coming soon next to it.

We spent Memorial Day at a potluck BBQ with friends

Rooke up to bat  in the dads-and-kids baseball game